Movie fans the 97th Academy Awards just wrapped up and there were definitely some big moments! One of the biggest awards of the night is always Best Actor and this year it was a showdown between some seriously talented dudes. We had veterans and rising stars all in the mix but in the end the Oscar went to... Adrien Brody!
Adrien Brody's Second Oscar Win: Triumphs as Best Actor for 'The Brutalist' Role
Yep Adrien Brody walked away with the Best Actor trophy for his performance in The Brutalist. This is not Brody's first rodeo with the Oscars. Remember he won way back in 2003 for The Pianist? That win actually made him the youngest ever Best Actor winner at the time at just 29 years old. This second win just cements his place as a true acting heavyweight.
In The Brutalist Brody plays László Tóth an architect who is trying to rebuild his life after surviving the Holocaust. It's a heavy role and clearly Brody knocked it out of the park. He beat out some tough competition to grab this Oscar.
Timothée Chalamet's Oscar Race: So Close to Breaking Brody's Youngest Winner Record!
Speaking of competition everyone had their eyes on Timothée Chalamet this year too. He was nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. If Chalamet had won he would have actually broken Brody's record and become the youngest Best Actor winner EVER. Talk about pressure!
Chalamet is only 29 himself so the race was super close in terms of age and potential history-making. While he didn't snag the win this time around Chalamet was a total class act. Videos are circulating online of him clapping for Brody hugging him and congratulating him after the announcement. He even shared a sweet kiss with his girlfriend Kylie Jenner and embraced his mom. Total sportsman move from Chalamet.
Best Actor Nominees Face Off and Celebrate: A Category of Powerhouse Performances
It wasn't just Brody and Chalamet in the Best Actor race of course. The other nominees were incredible too making it a really competitive category. Let's give a shout-out to the other actors who were nominated:
- Ralph Fiennes for Conclave: Fiennes is always amazing and he brought his A-game to this political drama set in the Vatican.
- Colman Domingo for Sing Sing: Domingo's performance in this prison drama was incredibly powerful and moving.
- Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice: Stan took on the challenging role of playing a certain former US president and earned a lot of buzz for it.
All these actors together even took a cool group photo at the Oscars showing it was all about celebrating great performances even if only one person could take home the gold statue.
'Anora' Steals the Show: Big Winner at 2025 Oscars Including Best Picture and Best Actress Surprise
While Best Actor was a major award Anora was the real big winner of the night. This movie took home a whopping FIVE Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director for Sean Baker. Baker actually tied Walt Disney's record for most Oscars won by one person in a single year which is insane! And get this Mikey Madison who starred in Anora actually won Best Actress beating out some serious heavy hitters like Demi Moore . Talk about a surprise!
Even though Emilia Pérez had the most nominations with 13 Anora really dominated the awards themselves. Looks like Sean Baker and Anora are the names everyone will be talking about after the 2025 Oscars.
Timothée Chalamet's Good Humor: SNL Monologue Joked About Award Show Losses Before SAG Win
Here is a fun fact about Timothée Chalamet. He actually hosted Saturday Night Live back in January and during his monologue he joked about his history of losing awards. He even showed a compilation of his "disappointed faces" when losing which is pretty self-deprecating and funny.
But guess what? Just a month later Chalamet actually WON a SAG Award for Best Actor. It was like his SNL jokes were reverse jinxing him in a good way! He even became the youngest male star to win that SAG Award which is another record broken. In his SAG speech Chalamet got real saying he is "in pursuit of greatness" and wants to be "one of the greats". He is definitely on his way even without the Oscar this year.
Best Actor 2025 - Oscar Nominees and Winner:
- Winner: Adrien Brody - The Brutalist
- Timothée Chalamet - A Complete Unknown
- Ralph Fiennes - Conclave
- Colman Domingo - Sing Sing
- Sebastian Stan - The Apprentice
And the Oscar Goes To... A Night of Surprises and Great Performances at the 2025 Academy Awards
So that's the rundown on the Best Actor race at the 2025 Oscars! Adrien Brody took home the gold but Timothée Chalamet was right there in the mix and the whole category was packed with talent. It was a night of some expected wins some surprises and a whole lot of movie magic . Congrats to all the nominees and especially to Adrien Brody on his big win!